A variety of lubricious coatings have been proposed for use on biomedical devices such as, for example, catheters, guide wires, endotracheal tubes and implants. Common materials used in the art to provide lubricious coatings for biomedical devices include, for example, oil, silicone and polymeric materials, such as polyN-vinylpyrrolidone, hydrophilic polyurethanes, Teflon, polyethylene oxide and polyacrylic acid. Among the most common materials used to provide lubricious coatings are hydrophilic polymers which are covalently bonded to the substrate with a binder polymer having reactive functional groups, e.g., isocyanate, aldehyde and epoxy groups. Although the use of such binder polymers having reactive functional groups is effective to provide lubricious coatings having a high degree of abrasion resistance, such binder polymers are often highly reactive, toxic and typically require special handling techniques in order to avoid potential health, safety and environmental problems.
Accordingly, new improved processes for applying lubricious coatings are desired which utilize binder polymers which are less toxic than those which contain highly reactive functional groups, such as isocyanates, yet which can provide a high degree of lubricity and abrasion resistance.